Storm
by darkraven1990
Summary: Himeno is scared of the storm raging outside her window what will happen when Hayate arrives to comfort her? Please R&R this is my first fic
1. Chapter 1

Storm

: - set after the series finale

Disclaimer I do not own Prêtear or any of its characters though if it comes up for sale please notify me immediately and I'll check my piggy bank

Himeno Awayuki lay curled up as small as possible in the corner of her room facing the double doors leading out to her balcony. Another flash and a clap of thunder, the girl whimpered as the rain continued to fall and the wind rattled her windows. Storms always scared Himeno but she didn't know why exactly. It was late, very late. She should be in bed peacefully asleep but she couldn't sleep she was far too frightened.

_That's it _she thought to herself _it's time to stop being afraid of the weather and go to sleep. _With a very determined look on her face, Himeno rose to feet and walked steadily over to the French doors. She quickly drew her curtains and got changed into her blue silk nightgown.

Himeno had just slipped in between the silk sheets and closed her eyes when she gasped and leapt out of bed.

"Mum" she whispered. She was about to draw back the curtains when she noticed a silhouette on the windows. Himeno stepped back horrified. There was someone on her balcony, no doubt spying on her. There was a soft knock on her window.

"Himeno, it hissed, it's me open the door I'm getting soaked out here." She knew that voice, but did she really want him in her room although she had little she either let him in or he would use his power over the wind to unlock the doors and let himself in like he had done many times before. Himeno was in love with the man standing on the balcony but she wasn't sure if he felt the same way. It was because of this that she went to the door and unlocked it allowing him to enter her room. Once the door was shut he held out a small terracotta pot to her, it had small pink flowers growing in it which looked rather worse for wear from being left outside in the storm.

"I thought you brought your mum in during storms tulip-head" the man said as she took the plant from him and placed it lovingly on her desk because this plant was all Himeno had left of her mother.

"Don't call me tulip-head. Thank you for bringing mum in for me, Hayate but why are you here in this terrible weather?" Hayate remained silent for a minuet before speaking.

"I knew that you were scared of storms so I came to keep you company tulip-head." Himeno saw a faint blush rise in his cheeks as he said it. Hayate blushing? This was most unusual. _Could it be? Could Hayate really care about her the way she cared about him? _Himeno dared not hope for it so she simply said

"Thank you Hayate for being so kind to me." He smiled looking down into her eyes, which were soft red in colour. Himeno raised her face to look directly at Hayate and was drawn immediately to his eyes. She sunk down into those two beautiful pools of sapphire blue light, feeling her cheeks heat up under his gaze she looked away. It was then that she noticed that water was dripping off his long blue hair onto her carpet. He soaked through and it was all her fault.

"Oh no, Hayate your soaked come on we had better get you dried off before you catch cold." He felt the warm concern in her voice and blushed as she took hold of his hand and lead him through to her en-suit bathroom. She clicked on the light, turned up the radiator and tossed him a fluffy white towel. Hayate noticed it had Himeno and a tulip embroidered on it in the corner.

"Take off your wet clothes and dry yourself off with that I'll be back in a minuet" Hayate did as he was told feeling very nervous about being in Himeno's personal bathroom and even using her towel. _I am so perverted _he thought to himself.

Himeno went to her chest of drawers and started to rummage around inside. She knew it was there somewhere. "Ah-hah, I found it" she cried, pulling out a large sweater of her dads that she liked to curl up in on cold evenings.

Upon returning to the bathroom Himeno went as pink as a strawberry having walked in to find a very good looking Hayate standing in her bathroom wearing nothing but his boxer shorts. Now if Himeno was pink then Hayate was so red that he looked like he was about to explode.

"Umm…s-sorry about that… umm…here you can have this for now." She handed him the sweater and he pulled it over his head smelling Himeno's irresistible aroma all around him and he blushed more if that was at all possible. "Right ok, umm well you can't go anywhere in this weather so you'll have to stay here the night. You can have my bed and I'll take the sleeping bag ok?"

"Sure…thank y-y-you" Hayate stuttered feeling very awkward. Himeno turned and walked back into her room, removed the sleeping bag from her wardrobe and laid it out on the floor next to her bed. She got in and zipped it up around her. Hayate followed behind and seeing her lying there got into her bed feeling the luxurious silk sheets on his skin. He was surrounded by the scent of Himeno.

Outside the storm raged on. His eyes drooped shut, a clash of thunder. He heard Himeno whimper below him. Carefully, he edged over to look down on her. She looked so distressed, with her eyes scrunched shut and her hands over her head. Hayate pulled back the covers and got out of bed he carefully unzipped Himeno's sleeping bag, lifted her up and placed her gently in the bed. Her eyes opened in shock as she felt Hayate climb in the bed beside her. He pulled the covers up over her and planted a feather light kiss on her forehead before settling down next to her. His hand came up to stroke her hair as he whispered in her ear

"It's ok, Himeno. I'm here with you, nothing can hurt you now." Himeno turned over and nestled herself against his chest. She fell asleep there with Hayate gently stroking her hair and the storm raging in the background.

When she awoke Hayate had gone. If it weren't for the sleeping bag on the floor, the still damp towel in the bathroom and sweater carefully folded at the end of her bed she may have believed it was all only a very nice dream. However she knew otherwise.


	2. Chapter 2

Storm

Disclaimer: once again I do not own Prêtear wish I did but I don't.

Chapter 2

It was two days after the storm and Himeno had not seen Hayate at all. _Probably too embarrassed to show himself _she thought to herself as she wondered through the gardens of the Awayuki estate. Himeno was so deep in thought wondering what she was going to do about what happened the other night to realise that she was walking straight towards a particularly large tree. Three steps away. Two steps away. THWACK! Himeno being her usual self had walked straight into the tree and was now flat on her butt staring at the tree and mumbling under her breath.

"You know talking to yourself isn't a very good sign" said I voice from behind her. Himeno turned around and looked up at the handsome young man standing behind her. He had short white hair and gentle amethyst eyes hidden behind clear glasses.

"Oh, hi Sasame." Himeno said as she pulled herself up from the ground and straightened out her clothes. "What's up?"

"I was just wondering if you knew why Hayate has been avoiding this place for the past few days. Did something happen while he was on guard duty the other night?"

Himeno's face turned bright red until it resembled something of an incredibly large tomato with hair and eyes.

"I have no idea what you are talking about!" she said, slightly louder than she intended.

"Oh really? Your face says differently."

"Wha-?"

"The shade of your face says that you like Hayate!" Himeno shook her head violently,

"No…no, I don't! Hey? Sasame, where are you going?!" Sasame had started running away towards the house.

"I'm going to tell everyone that you love Hayate!" Sasame yelled back, then seeing the vein protruding from Himeno's forehead, he began to run faster, hoping to evade her anger.

"I DO NOT!" she shouted before running after him. Himeno was gaining on him fast, she jumped and tackled Sasame to the ground and raising her fist above her said in a dangerously clam tone of voice "Take it back."

"No!"

SLAM! Himeno's fist connected with Sasame's gut causing him to groan in pain,

"Himeno loves Hayate." He said again. Himeno was about to punch him again when she was pulled away by two strong pairs of hands. She looked up and saw none other than Goh and Hayate himself holding her back.

"What were you teasing her about this time?" asked Goh coolly while struggling to hold Himeno back.

"Take it back Sasame!" she growled

"Never, it's the truth isn't it? You love Hayate!" Hayate went rigid and Goh froze in shock causing Sasame to smile and thinking Himeno had also frozen got to his feet but Himeno was expecting it and lunged at him while screaming

"Why you little…I'm gonna kill you!" however her opportunity was stolen from her when Hayate snapped back to reality just in time to grab her back. Himeno fought against his grip but he held her firmly "Let me go! Hayate let me go!"

"No, calm down! You're just confirming his suspicions by acting like this." Himeno sighed and nodded. Hayate slowly and reluctantly let go of the small woman wishing he didn't have to but also wishing he could have held her under different circumstances. As soon as she was free of him she ran off towards to main house, slamming the back door behind her so hard a pane of glass fell out. Goh sighed and Hayate disappeared in a gust of wind. Goh turned to Sasame, who was dusting off his clothes, and said

"Do you really think she loves him?" Sasame smiled and replied

"I don't think, I _know _that she loves him. However, I do think that something happened between them when Hayate was on guard duty during that storm, I just need to find out what."

"Maybe you're right…they have been acting …weird." Sasame nodded and walked off.

Later that evening Himeno was in her room doing her homework, getting very stressed at her chemistry equations. She glanced over at the balcony. The double glass doors were closed with the net curtains drawn across but she could still see the figure standing there, her faithful guard. Himeno went back to staring at her page of enthalpy changes and chemical symbols hoping they would do themselves but alas it was not to be. The peace and quiet was shattered by a muffled sneeze coming from the balcony. Himeno jerked her head up at the sound and glanced up at the door. She sighed, pushed her chair back and walked over to the balcony doors. The metal door handle was cool under her hand as she pressed it down and gently opened the doors. Instantly the cold night air surrounded her and goose bumps covered her bare arms and legs. She looked up at the night sky as stars shimmered down on her and the moon pealed out from behind the tree tops. She heard Hayate sneeze again and pulled a clean white handkerchief from her pocket and offered it to the silent knight of wind. He took it gently from her,

"Thank you Himeno." She shrugged her shoulders, trying to act casual as she turned her back to him about to enter her room again when she looked back over her shoulder and said,

"Come inside, you'll catch a cold if you stay out here much longer and then you won't be a very good guard." Hayate silently followed her into the room and sat down on the couch. Himeno closed the doors again and went back to her work but found she couldn't concentrate properly. She sighed, placed her pen down on the desk and cleared away her books.

"Himeno?" her head shot up as he spoke and she turned her head towards him. Hayate was looking away, a faint pink on his cheeks. Himeno stood up from the desk and walked over to where Hayate was and sat on the chair opposite.

"Yes Hayate?" He glanced over at the young woman; her cherry pink lips were smiling slightly as she looked at him expectantly.

"I …I think that we…need to talk about what happened a few days ago…during the storm." Himeno's face turned slightly pink and she quickly poured herself a glass of water form the pitcher on the coffee table. After taking a sip, she cleared her throat and trying to sound normal said;

"What about it?"

"I'm sorry." Himeno looked up at him with a puzzled look on her face

"About what?"

"I…It shouldn't have happened, it was a mistake to hold you like that…like I was more than just your knight, forgive me." He said it so fast she almost didn't hear him but the word 'mistake' kept echoing in her head like a death sentence, she snapped out of it when she realised that Hayate was holding his breath, waiting for her reply. She quickly slapped on a fake smile and said in an overly cheerful voice

"Oh that, don't worry I'd pretty much forgotten about it anyway." Hayate nodded. There was a knock on the balcony doors and Hayate stood up

"That'll be Sasame, try not to kill him tulip head!" he braced himself for her usual screaming fit at the sound of her nickname but nothing came. She just sat there her eyes downcast, "Are you feeling okay?" Himeno nodded mutely. "Alright…see you Himeno" he opened the door and let Sasame in before leaving.

"Hey Himeno."

The glass slipped from her hand and shattered on the floor into thousands of tiny shards, 'Just like my heart' she thought bitterly. Sasame rushed over to her and grabbed her hand,

"Are you alright Himeno?" her head was bowed and her hair covered her eyes so he couldn't see her face but the whispered voice made his heart clench in his chest

"What's wrong with me? Aren't I good enough?" her voice was broken, so full of despair. Sasame was still holding on to her hand when he felt the first of her tears hit his smooth skin. She was shaking now so he held her by the shoulders but her sobs wracked her tiny frame and she kept on crying. Sasame lifted her up and carried her over to the bed, where he laid her head on the pillow and pulled the covers up over her small body. She eventually cried herself into a restless sleep, in which she tossed and turned and whispered Hayate's name over and over again. Sasame sighed and walked over to the window, looking up at the diamond encrusted sky he softly asked

"Hayate, what have you done?"

Sasame heard Himeno stir and immediately rushed to the bed. She opened her eyes and looked at his worried face, knowing just how much she had made Sasame suffer during the night caused Himeno to feel very guilty and she tried to smile at him but with the events of the previous few hours she barely managed a grimace. Sasame hugged Himeno close to him and sat on the edge of the bed. "It was Hayate wasn't it?" Himeno screwed her eyes shut against the pain and nodded stiffly, "What happened, Himeno?" She swallowed and tried to force the words out of her lips but every time she tried they seemed to twist and squirm away from her and eventually all she could muster was to repeat that dreaded word Hayate had used. Sasame, knight of sound, had to strain his ears to hear the broken whisper that issued forth from Himeno's lips.

"He said…it was a mistake…I was a fool to think…that…he…loved me" the last of her words were but the tiniest breath of sound so faint he hardly heard them but Sasame knew better than to doubt his hearing and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.

"Himeno…I know that he loves you but are you sure that he said you were mistaken?" Himeno only nodded and Sasame felt a cold fury building in him like a carefully poised serpent ready to strike. He tried to force himself to remain calm and comforting for Himeno's sake as he spoke again, "Himeno, try and get some sleep. I'm sure you don't want to have to explain yourself to Goh when he gets here. I promise when you wake up I'll have some answers for you, okay?" Himeno nodded and lay down again, easily slipping into a deep, healing sleep. As soon as Goh arrived Sasame gave him a brief explanation of what had occurred during the night and rushed home. He threw the door open and went charging straight up the stairs to the room he shared with Hayate.

"Hayate?!" he yelled as he stormed into the room, the sudden noise woke Hayate from his slumber with a start which subsequently caused him to fall out of bed and whack his head on the low table by his bed.

"Oww, what the hells wrong with you?" he grumbled as he sat up, rubbing the lump that was forming on the back of his skull.

"_ME!_ WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH _YOU_?!" Sasame practically yelled, attracting the attention of the other four knights in the house who all congregated at the bottom of the stairs, attempting to listen in on the conversation but remain as far away from a fuming Sasame as possible. "You made Himeno cry!" he stated at the blank look on Hayate's face, his eyes widened and guilt and confusion settled across his features. "I don't know exactly what happened but she seems to think that you don't love her anymore and there's nothing worse than not having your love returned." Hayate immediately stood and ran out of the door, nearly bowling over the group on the stairs in his haste. Sasame calmly left the room and walked down the stairs, he turned to the others, who were staring open mouthed at the front door which was swinging gently in the breeze, and said with a small smile

"Who wants to go and watch Hayate humble himself?" The other four knights shared his smirk and followed Hayate at a more leisurely pace to Himeno's home.

Hayate arrived at the Awayuki mansion, slightly flustered and very out of breath. He followed a maid up to Himeno's room and knocked gently on the door which was opened a moment later by Goh, his usual lively and mischievous face was replaced by a look of sadness and upon seeing Hayate at the door a glare crossed his face. Goh opened the door wider and stepped past Hayate on his way out of the room he muttered darkly under his breath

"You'd better not screw this up Hayate."

Hayate stepped into the room and shut the door gently behind him. It was dark inside and he could just about make put Himeno's figure in the bed, curled up in a foetal position clutching the blankets to her chest as she tossed and turned in some secret nightmare. Hayate walked to her bed and sat down on the edge of it, reaching out a hand he swept away the hair on her forehead which caused her to stop moving as violently in her sleep. He continued to stroke her hair which caused her to stir slightly and she opened her eyes slowly, dark lashes revealing blood-shot red eyes and blotchy cheeks which made his heart clench and guilt wash over him again.

"Hayate?" she asked, her voice was harsh and raw and he could hear the disbelief in it.

"I'm here…" She looked away from him and moved out of his reach, sitting up in the bed.

"Sasame sent you didn't he? Well you can go now, I don't want your pity."

"Himeno please, just listen to me?" He tried to reach out to her again but she hit his hand away

"Just go away! I don't need you, you don't have to be nice to me just because I'm in love with you!" Her voice was rising now, as she became more emotional and frustrated, but Hayate stayed where he was.

"So you do love me then. Himeno what I said last night… I didn't mean it. I said it because I didn't think that you felt the same way I did and you've always had such a generous heart that I didn't want you to try and help me by pretending you loved me."

"Why didn't you just tell me how you felt?" her voice was barely above a whisper

"Because I was frightened, I don't have your courage." She smiled slightly and looked at him, her eyes were soft and glowed in the dark.

"Now I know that you're telling the truth because you never admit that you're frightened of anything." Hayate smiled and her and pulled her into his arms

"I love you, Himeno Awayuki."

"I love you too, Hayate, Knight of Wind." They both heard and great cheer of

"Finally!" emit from beyond the closed balcony doors and started to laugh

"We aren't going to get any peace about this now are we?" Himeno merely smiled and shook her head. "I thought not."

Author's Note

Ok well I wrote this ages back and only just got around to typing it up this weekend. Some people asked for a sequel and I was at school one morning when this just popped into my head. I hope you enjoy and I'd also like to thank all my reviewers for the last part. See you around guys.


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